Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Cross (as in the Cross of Christ) (08/17/06)
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TITLE: The Star of David | Previous Challenge Entry
By Julie Michaelson
08/19/06 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
I put both with an open, silver heart.
I only added the little cross a few months ago. It was just this year,
that I came to love Christ Jesus as my Savior. Both of my parents were
Jewish, and it was many years, into my adulthood, that I added the little
cross to my chain.
This week, I wanted to write something about, well, the whole mishemeghillah,
on my necklace! (The open heart represents how much the Lord loves me;
it came with the silver chain, and I left it on.)
I realized, rather suddenly, that I didn't know what the Star symbolized.
Years of going to synagogue, Hebrew school, and eating (buttered) matzo,
kosher dills, corned beef on rye, gifilte fish, borscht, sweet & sour cabbage,
cheese blintzes, matzo ball soup, and a ton of horseradish (on hard boiled
eggs), and I had no idea why the Star of David had six points.....? Well,
do you?
(Hey, do you know why Jews eat horseradish at Passover? Go, and look
that one up; I know why, but I've got a 750 word count.)
Isn't the 21st century wonderful? (Poor King David; he would have loved
using a laptop for writing all of those Psalms. I can imagine God sending
David an IM: "No, I don't like that stanza. Take it out. Oh, and substitute
line 7 with line 15. Why? Because I said so, that's why. Look, Davidlah,
who is Your Editor, anyway....? Oh, by the way, who, pre tell, is Bathsheba....? So,
she's a new neighbor, and lives across the way? Oh, I see. Hm? Nothing.
I was just curious......")
I came up with pages of theories, from the internet:
- it is also called the Shield of David
- in Israeli Hebrew, the Star or Shield of David is pronounced
'Magen David'
- it is equated with the number seven (six points plus the center)
- the Star was first mentioned in the 11th century
- it was discussed in a text about "Seven angels.......preceding
the mezuzah, for protection........"
(We put mezuzahs on our doors for good luck. Their meaning
is a bit more complicated, naturally. You can buy one, too, but
you have to put it up correctly.)
- the number 7 has religious significance: the six days of Creation,
plus the day that God rested
- the Seven Spirits of God (What is this?)
- the 7 oil lamps of the Menorah in the ancient Temple
- the Star, perhaps, came to be used as a standard symbol in
synagogues because of its organization into 3 + 3 + 1
(This is already getting too complicated.)
- the Star of David comprises 2 of the 3 letters in the (Hebrew)
spelling in the name, 'David'
- the symbol may have been some form of a family crest
- the Star may represent the astrological chart at the time of
David's birth, or anointment as king
- derivation of the symbol from the Templars, as part of
the Kabbulah, arranging the spheres onto amulets..........
Oy, vey! What does that last one mean? You can look that one up, yourself.
It's too long and complicated for me. (To be honest, I never did do very
well on the SAT's.)
All of these theories add up to about seven pages of text.
Hey! There's the number 7, again. Wow, that is weird........
I also know that there's something about 7,000 years - and the end times...?
Maybe, that has something to do with it. (In addition to not having ever
excelled on the SAT's, I've never outshone anyone in Hebrew class, or Bible
studies, either. What can I say?)
In the midst of reading all of this intriguing, complex, dating-back-to-the-
dinosaur-material, I came up with my own idea. (I'm using my right-brained,
non-SAT-nogen. Plus, I haven't eaten any dinner, yet. Well, I am drinking
Sam's orange soda, and eating Oreos, sans horseradish.)
Maybe, the Star of David is Jesus.
So, possibly, my combination necklace isn't so strange looking, after all.
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